Apparatus for vulcanizing rubber boots and shoes.



'P. 3. WHEN & 1?. Ti GOMEE. APPARATUS FOR VULCANIZING RUBBER BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 22, 1909.

Patented Nov. 8, 1910.

L Hucoaeo UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK J. NREN AND FREDERICK T. COMEE, OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

APPARATUS FOR VULGANIZING RUBBEI} BOOTS AND SHOES.

Application filed January 22, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, PATRICK J. enn and FREDERICK T. Conan, citizens of the United States, residing at \Voonsocket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented new and useful Iniprovenients iii Apparatus for Vulcanizing Rubber Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

- Qur invention has to do with the vulcanization of rubber shoes and the like, more particularly rubber shoes and analogous articles such as have linings of textile material and it consists in an apparatus for successfully and expeditiously bringing such vulcanization about, as hereinafter described and claimed.

1n the drawings, accompanying and-forni ing part of this specification: Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of what we will hereinafter term the last-member of an apparatus constructed in accordance with our invention, ig. 2 is a side elevation of the last-member, showing the same in its expanded state. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, vertical section of what we will hereinafter denoniinate the mold-member of the apparatus. Fig. l is a transverse section I taken in the plane indicated by the line 4l l of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a view showing a portion of the last-member and a portion of the niold-niei'nber, together with a portion of a rubber shoe and the textile lining thereof interposed between the last-member and the mold-member. Fig. 6' is a side elevation of a modified last-member hereinafter referred to inv detail.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5 thereof: A isthe last-member oi the apparatus comprised in our invention.

13 is the mold-member of the apparatus.

C is a rubber shoe arranged onthe lastineniher and between said last-member and the mold-member, Fig. 5, for vulcanization, and D is the textile lining of the shoe.

The last-member A comprises a lower sec-- tion a. in which is fixed a nut b, an upper section 0 in which is fixed a bearing and guide plate (Z, and an adjusting rod. (1 extending loosely through the upper section a and plate d and threaded into the not b and having an enlargement or shoulder disposed below the plate 05. tmrniingv the rod ,1" in one direction one of the sections is positively moved away from the other to expand or Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1916'.

Serial No. 473,696.

shoe may have its difierent parts joined together on an ordinary last, and then may be removed from that last and transferred to the expansible last-member A for vulcanization, or else the different parts of the shoe may be joined together on the expansible last-member 11 while the same is in a con tracted state as shown in 1. After the rubber shoe and its lining, when a lining is employed, are placed on the contacted, last-niember, as stated,'tlie said last-incur her and shoe and shoe lining are plat: 1. in the mold-member, and the niold-n'iember is' closed in the conventional manner or in any other manner consonant with the purpose of our invention. The rod 6 is there-- upon manipulated to expand the lastanernher A, when, as will be readily understood,

the shoe and its lining will he positivelv'and 8e unyieldingly pressed from the inside trier of against the immovable inner side of he mold-member. Then after the vulcanization or" the rubber or equivalent material C is accomplished, the last-member A is contracted and the completed shoe is taken with the last-member from the mold-member, or

the last member may be removed without contraction thereof.

It 'will be gathered from 1 j that as a result of the Coopers-ion of a la," member and a inold-niember the qualifications stated the parts of the she will be firmly united and the outer sid o the shoe will be firmly pressed against inn-er surface of the mold; also, that bunchesor lumps inside the stock removed and uneven thicknesses equalized the absolutely rigid or steady and unyicldine' pressure, and the production oi well is ed and perfect shoe will he assured. lit niatcrially advantageous, however, that both the lower section a and the upper section a of the last-member A extend throughout the length said. member, and that see tions a and o shaped, as he understood when no dental to separation of the members a and c I In the practice of our invention, the lastall parts of the rubber shoe are subjected to pressure between the last-memlnzr and the mold member.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that rubber shoes and boots are at the present time almost universally made upon wooden or metal-lasts and are vulcanized by being placed in large ovens or heaters. his mode of manufacture, however, has been found deficient and objectionable because of the time required, six to eight hours, to accomplishthe vulcanization. It has been .known for some time that the vulcanization of a boot or shoe of rubber or equivalent material can be accomplished in a mold in a brief period, maproximately SlX to eight minutes, and we are aware that an apparatus has been devised with. a View of utilizing such knowledge, the said apparatus comprising a solid, non-expansible last, and the necessary pressure being obtained upon the outside of the shoe by the closing of the mold as distinguished from our mode of pro Viding the pressure from within the mold. The method including the imposition of pressure against the shoe from theoutside thereof was found unsatisfactory and inadequate, for the reason that the constantly varying thickness of the parts comprised in rubber boots and shoes and the close conformity of size and shape between the surface of the last and the inner surface of the mold caused sometimes a deficiency. and sometimes a surplus of stock resulting In imperfect productions, in the one case from lack of stock, and in the other from the pres sure incidental to closing of ,the mold causing a fiowage and escape of the surplus rubber with a consequent displacement of or injury to some of the parts of the shoe. This movement of stock made it impossible to include in the shoes linings of cotton or woolen fabrics which are positively demanded by the consuming public, and consequently the old method stated, notwithstanding the expedition with which it could be practiced, was abandoned after a long trial and a considerable outlay of money.

In making a rubber shoe with the fore part closed, or making any other rubber article that is closed at all points except at one end, there must be pressure in all directions around the shoe or article, which can be obtained only by pressure caused by closing the mold wholly around the shoe on a rigid last, the inner surfaces of the mold pressing against the outer surfaces of the shoe as in the objectionable and deficient process just set forth, or by closing the mold and then positively and unyieldingly pressing the shoe or article that is closed at all points except at one end from the inside thereof out-. wardly and directly against the unyielding inner surface of the closed mold.

member and the mold-member should be of such proportional sizes that the last-member with the shoe on it can be placed in the mold-member and the mold-member be closed before the last-member is expanded to for a specific purpose and is peculiar in that it is provided ad acent its under side with a heating chamber -M, and-in that it embodies conduits N and l for conducting steam or any other suitable heating agent to and from the chamber M. The said chamber M may be of the proportional size illustrated in Fig. 6, or may extend practically throughout the length of the last-member, as occasion demands, and it is designed for use when the shoe or boot to be vulcanized has a solid heel and a. heavy sole; such heel and sole being much thicker than the re mainder of the shoe or boot, and requiring in consequence more heat to assure vulcanization thereof Lll1lfOI1'1'1.\Vll l1 the comparalively thin remainder of the shoe or boot. From this it follows that a last embodying the chamber M and its appurtenances may be formed in one piece and used to advan tage in the hereinbefore described old process of vulcanizing boots and shoes in those cases where the boots or shoes have either a thick heel'or a thick sole or both; also, that when boots or shoes having either thick heels or soles or both are to be vulcanized in accordance with our invention, it"is of advantageto employ the chamber M and its appurtenances in the expansible last-member.

life are well aware that lasts comprising sections and mechanical means for moving the sections to expand the lasts are old. \Ve are also aware that it is old in the manufac ture of rubber shoes to sup ort the article to be finished and vulcanizetyu on a'fiexible last within a finishing mo d, while expanding the last by internal air-pressure; the flexible last mentioned being a bag last or more pro erly a form made from a woven or knitte fabric, coated witha vulcanized rubber compound, with a stiffening material, of a similar compound, extending a short distance from the sole. Such a bag last or form is in no sense a rigid last and cannot give rise to a rigid unyielding pressure, and is essentially elastic, llxtra rulcanization is illjtlt'l()tl ,tt) vulcanized rubber. and therefore. in practice, hag lasts or forms. such as described. ereruiued h a few .rulcauizations. The process was also found unsuccessful because air or any other fluid under pressure gives only a yielding pressure and hence is not' adapt'ed to remove. hunches or lumps inside the stock or equalize uneven thicknesses. We make no claim to an \'thing in common with the said prior inventions. hut

'hat we claim and desire to secure h Letters-Patent, is:

. An apparatus for the comprising a sectional mold. of rigid or unyielding material. the interior of which corresponds in. contour to the outer side of a boot, or shoe. and a last member comprising purpose descriheih yond the mold for sections of rigid or unyielding material, each extending throughout its length and separable bodily throughout its length from the other section; said sections together corresponding in contour to and being slightly smaller than the interior of the sectional mold. and mechanical means extending bepositively and unyieldingly separating the last section and thereby expanding the last member within the mold. in testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence ,of two subscribing \r it masses.

PATRICK J. \VREN. FREDERICK 'l. COMEE. \Vitnesses:

' (iuonon V. Plclum),

Airmen F. BALLOU. 

